Acqua di Biella, like Carthusia, is an Italian niche fragrance line using “old recipes created in convents that date to the 1700′s” (via luckyscent). Janca was released last September and has only recently made it to the US. According to Women’s Wear Daily, Janca was inspired by a river near the northern Italian textile region of Biella. It features notes of florentine iris, peach, tamarind, mandarin, linden, osmanthus, magnolia, cardamom, musk, cedar, and patchouli.
View attachment 8747
The top notes are fruity, sweet, and heavy on the cardamom and linden. The cardamom fades quickly, leaving a fruity osmanthus with just the tiniest touch of spice. As it dries down, the magnolia intensifies. It stays sweet, but not overly so — it is very bright, and the fruit notes are not at all overdone. It has a nice musky base; the cedar is very subdued, and I cannot make out any patchouli at all.
Janca is a lovely, spring-like fragrance, and it is always a treat to find a fruity floral that doesn’t immediately bring to mind Kool-Aid or Jolly Rancher candies. I do like it very much, but despite the fact that it contains many of my favorite fragrance notes (linden, osmanthus & cardamom) I am not yet sure that I love it to the tune of over $100 for 100 ml. I will give it a few more tries before I decide whether or not it is full bottle worthy.
NST
View attachment 8747
The top notes are fruity, sweet, and heavy on the cardamom and linden. The cardamom fades quickly, leaving a fruity osmanthus with just the tiniest touch of spice. As it dries down, the magnolia intensifies. It stays sweet, but not overly so — it is very bright, and the fruit notes are not at all overdone. It has a nice musky base; the cedar is very subdued, and I cannot make out any patchouli at all.
Janca is a lovely, spring-like fragrance, and it is always a treat to find a fruity floral that doesn’t immediately bring to mind Kool-Aid or Jolly Rancher candies. I do like it very much, but despite the fact that it contains many of my favorite fragrance notes (linden, osmanthus & cardamom) I am not yet sure that I love it to the tune of over $100 for 100 ml. I will give it a few more tries before I decide whether or not it is full bottle worthy.
NST
